THUMPERTOP - The Art of Building a Moonshine Still by Robert Devillier

“Automobiles of yesterday, moonshine runners and building of whiskey stills is an art.

“Appalachian Mountains, leaving your doors unlocked was a common thing at night. Most of the Appalachia are genuine old folks: if they like you, they like you, and if they do not like you, it is better to keep going on down the road. Once you get to know the Appalachian folks, they would carry on until you have had a little of their moonshine, showing off their handcrafted liquor still and tell you it is a dying art. These folks are not your everyday bootleggers; they just want to make them a little shine to keep on hand.

“It is the responsibility of the buyer of this book to keep out of trouble if using this information to build a liquor still.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this little–part memoir, short stories and how to–book from beginning to end. There are ten chapters. The first nine are short stories and the tenth gives you plans and recipes for making moonshine. It’s an interesting subject and the stories are personal and down to earth. The cover photo is of an old-time whiskey still...historic and unique. Throughout the book there are drawings of significant trucks and cars plus detailed illustrations of the stills to be built.

Robert Devillier tells a good story and does an excellent job putting it all together. There were a few editing errors but nothing significant. They certainly did not detract from the stories. I think just about anyone would enjoy Thumpertop.